THE STRANGE ORMONDS (1833) – By Leitch Ritchie
Halloween Month continues! The last neglected Gothic Horror tale I examined was Isabella of Egypt back on the first of October. Let’s dive back into them with this 1833 story set in England.
The reader is informed right off the top that the Ormond family (no, not the same Ormonds who are beloved by all of us bad movie fans) lived in the north of England and were objects of mingled fear, suspicion, derision and horror. The story is narrated in the first person and the author pretends that he is concealing some info to protect the innocent. An unnamed doctor from an unnamed town was called in to attend the oldest living Ormond in his last days.
The doctor took his daughter with him to witness the death of one head of the Ormond family and the accession of another. The huge mansion of the Ormonds was as odd as the family itself. The building seemed to be composed mostly of additions added on during different decades – even centuries – and if not for the obvious wealth of the family would have been deemed ramshackle. Continue reading
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